7. Haley
— · —
Haley
“Seriously?”
The test was positive.
I sat on the edge of Megan’s bathtub staring at the two pink lines, waiting for them to change their mind. They didn’t.
“Haley?” Megan knocked on the door. “You’ve been in there for fifteen minutes. I’m getting concerned.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine. You sound like you’re having a crisis.”
“That’s because I am having a crisis.” I unlocked the door and she pushed in immediately, her eyes going straight to the test in my hand.
“Oh no.” She took it from me. “Oh no no no.”
“That about sums it up.”
“When did you even take this? I didn’t see you buy one.”
“I grabbed it yesterday when I went to get tampons. Which, in retrospect, was optimistic of me.”
“How late are you?”
“Six weeks. Maybe seven. I lost track with everything going on.”
“And you’re sure it’s his?”
I gave her a look.
“Right. Stupid question. Of course it’s his.” She set the test on the counter and grabbed my shoulders. “What are you going to do?”
“I have no idea. I literally just found out.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“I don’t know if I want to.”
“Haley, you have to. He’s the father.”
“He’s also the man who’s been fucking his assistant for months while telling her I was a mistake.” I pulled away from her. “Does that sound like someone who deserves to know anything about my life?”
“This isn’t about what he deserves. This is about you making decisions you can live with.”
“I can live with a lot of things, Meg. I can live with raising this baby alone. I can live with never speaking to him again. What I can’t live with is him thinking he has any say in what happens next.”
“He’s going to find out eventually.”
“Then he can find out eventually. But I’m not calling him up to share the news like we’re still a happy couple announcing our pregnancy on Instagram.”
“I’m not saying you have to be happy about it. I’m saying you need to think this through.”
“I’ve been thinking. That’s all I do anymore.” I rubbed my face. “I need to go to the house and get the rest of my things. I’ve been putting it off for days.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No. I need to do this alone.”
“What if he’s there?” Megan asked. I saw the tension in her face, and I loved her for being so supportive.
“Then I’ll deal with it.” I grabbed my keys. “I’m not afraid of him, Meg. I’m just tired of looking at his face.”
“Call me if anything happens. And I mean anything. If he so much as raises his voice at you, I’m coming over there with a crowbar.”
“Noted.”
The drive to the house took fifteen minutes. His car was in the driveway.
Of course it was. Because why would anything be easy?
I sat in my car debating whether to leave and come back later. But I was done running. Done hiding. Done letting him dictate when and how I could access my own life. If he was home, then he was home. I’d get my things and get out.
I let myself in with my key. The house was quiet. I grabbed an empty box from the garage and headed upstairs, hoping maybe he was in the shower or on a call or anywhere that wasn’t directly in my path.
No such luck.
“What are you doing here?” He appeared in the bedroom doorway before I even made it to the closet. Sweatpants. T-shirt. Like he’d been waiting for me.
“Getting my things.”
“You could have called first.”
“I didn’t want to talk to you. That’s kind of the whole point of not answering your calls.”
“We need to discuss what’s happening, Haley. You can’t just disappear and expect me to accept that.”
“I can do whatever I want.” I started pulling clothes from my side of the closet. “That’s what divorce means.”
“We’re not divorced yet.”
“Give it time.”
He watched me shove clothes into the box, his jaw tight. “What’s that in your bag?”
My hands stopped moving. My bag was at my feet lying open, and the pregnancy test box was right there.
He stepped closer. “Are you pregnant?”
I turned to face him. No point in lying now. “Yes.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Open your ears, Caleb. I said yes.”
“You find out I’m seeing someone and nine days later you’re pregnant?” He let out a harsh laugh. “Convenient.”
I laughed too. I couldn’t help it. The sound came up out of me before I could stop it. “Convenient.”
“You think I don’t see what this is?” His voice was rising now, his face flushing. “You’re trying to trap me. You’re trying to back me into a corner so I can’t leave.”
God, the nerve of this man. If I didn’t know better I would have picked up the heavy ceramic soap dispenser and flung it at his head.
I scoffed instead. “Seriously? You think after everything I would trick you? You think I want to be tied to you for the rest of my life after what you did? Fuck you, Caleb. I’m just here for my things. And the next time I speak to you will be through my lawyer.”
“You can’t just decide that.”
“I just did.”
“It’s my kid too.” He stepped forward, his voice getting louder. “You can’t keep me from my own kid.”
“It’ll never know you.” I held his gaze, refusing to flinch. “You’ll be a name on a Christmas card. If you’re lucky.”
“Don’t you dare.” He came toward me, his whole body tense with anger. “He’s mine too. He’s going to be ours, you don’t get to-”
I caught the pronoun.
“You said he.”
He stopped. “What?”
“I didn’t tell you what it was.” I tilted my head, watching the confusion spread across his face. “I don’t know what it is. I’m barely pregnant. There’s no way to know the sex yet. But you said he.”
“I didn’t mean-”
“You’ve wanted a son for years.” I picked up my box. “You’ve talked about it at every family dinner. A boy to carry on the Sinclair name. A boy to take over the business. And now you’ve already decided that’s what this is.”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“I’m hearing them for the first time.” I walked past him toward the door. “And I don’t like what they’re telling me.”
“Haley, wait. We need to talk about this.”
“We really don’t.”
“You can’t just walk away from me.”
“I’m not walking away from you. I’m walking away from this marriage, which has been dead for a lot longer than nine days.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Neither is finding out your husband has been sleeping with his assistant for almost a year, but here we are.”
“I made a mistake. I’ve admitted that. But this baby changes things.”
“This baby doesn’t change anything.” I turned to face him one last time. “You’re still the man who cheated on me. You’re still the man who stood there and let Vanessa tell you to be quiet like you were a child being scolded. Nothing about this pregnancy erases any of that.”
“I’m the father. I have rights.”
“Then get a lawyer and we’ll discuss your rights in court.” I headed for the stairs. “Until then, stay away from me.”
“Haley-”
“I mean it, Caleb. Don’t call me. Don’t come to Megan’s. Don’t try to corner me at coffee shops or grocery stores or anywhere else. If you have something to say, say it through an attorney.”
“This is insane. You’re being completely unreasonable.”
“I’m being smart for the first time in five years.” I walked down the stairs, through the living room, out the front door. “Goodbye, Caleb.”
I loaded the box into my trunk and got in my car. He followed me out onto the porch, still talking, still arguing, but I didn’t hear any of it. I just backed out of the driveway and drove away.
***
My phone rang later in the afternoon as I was sitting in Megan’s driveway.
A minute later, the notification popped up. I pressed play.
“Haley.” His voice was different now. “I’m sorry about earlier. I was caught off guard and I reacted badly. That wasn’t fair to you.”
I waited.
“I told my mother about the baby. She wants to talk to you tomorrow.” He paused. “She’ll help us figure this out, okay? She wants to help us figure this out. Just call me back. Please.”
I deleted the voicemail.